Vega
01-05-2006, 05:29 PM
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/vega1954/Email0016.jpg
I had always regarded with wonder and perplexity the old paintings representing “Naus”, the huge Portuguese cargo and simultaneously, man of war ships that brought to Europe the Indian Spices, in the XVI century. I have some difficulty in understanding how they managed to control those huge sails, and how the boat could have enough stability to carry them.
I am relieved to see that I am not the only one that has some difficulty in understanding the concept of those boats. J. Richard Steffy, one of the founders of the Archeological Nautical Program, Texas A&M University, says:
“The ideas and conceptions that ruled “Naus” design and construction are almost completely unknown to us, even if those were, probably, the most complex and sophisticated machines created by men in the XVI century”
“The study of the Iberian expansion of the 15th and 16th centuries has been the subject of perhaps thousands of books. ...However, their ships are almost completely unknown to us. There is no solid knowledge about these ships besides the countless amateur reconstructions that have populated our imagination since the late 19th century. “
.......... http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index-iberian.htm
Perhaps I can take my doubts away, because a team of that university, working with the UETN is going to make a Laboratory Reconstruction of one of those boats. After that, UETN is going to make a complete computer simulated study of the stability, with different loads on board (cargo), sea and wind situations.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index.htm
http://www.mar.ist.utl.pt/uetne/design.asp
“A team from the Ship Reconstruction Laboratory (ShipLab), in the Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) at Texas A&M University, is trying to build a comprehensive image of these ships, the way they evolved in time and the environment in which they were designed and built. “
That reconstruction is now possible because we have found a well preserved boat (relatively) in the Tagus river, and the measurements of that boat are almost coincident (to the inch) with the ones in a 1580 Portuguese Codex that explains how such a boat should be built, including all measurements.
With the information taken from the Codex, matched with the information taken from the wreck, it will be possible to do that reconstruction.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index-00alex.htm
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/01alexhazlett/Scantling%20List%20of%20a%20600-ton%20Nao.pdf
If you like old boats and naval history, take a good look at this site and at the links. I have found it very entertaining and interesting.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index-projects.htm
http://www.subarch.com/
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/randall/Randall%20Index%20002.htm
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/01George/index.htm
I had always regarded with wonder and perplexity the old paintings representing “Naus”, the huge Portuguese cargo and simultaneously, man of war ships that brought to Europe the Indian Spices, in the XVI century. I have some difficulty in understanding how they managed to control those huge sails, and how the boat could have enough stability to carry them.
I am relieved to see that I am not the only one that has some difficulty in understanding the concept of those boats. J. Richard Steffy, one of the founders of the Archeological Nautical Program, Texas A&M University, says:
“The ideas and conceptions that ruled “Naus” design and construction are almost completely unknown to us, even if those were, probably, the most complex and sophisticated machines created by men in the XVI century”
“The study of the Iberian expansion of the 15th and 16th centuries has been the subject of perhaps thousands of books. ...However, their ships are almost completely unknown to us. There is no solid knowledge about these ships besides the countless amateur reconstructions that have populated our imagination since the late 19th century. “
.......... http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index-iberian.htm
Perhaps I can take my doubts away, because a team of that university, working with the UETN is going to make a Laboratory Reconstruction of one of those boats. After that, UETN is going to make a complete computer simulated study of the stability, with different loads on board (cargo), sea and wind situations.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index.htm
http://www.mar.ist.utl.pt/uetne/design.asp
“A team from the Ship Reconstruction Laboratory (ShipLab), in the Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) at Texas A&M University, is trying to build a comprehensive image of these ships, the way they evolved in time and the environment in which they were designed and built. “
That reconstruction is now possible because we have found a well preserved boat (relatively) in the Tagus river, and the measurements of that boat are almost coincident (to the inch) with the ones in a 1580 Portuguese Codex that explains how such a boat should be built, including all measurements.
With the information taken from the Codex, matched with the information taken from the wreck, it will be possible to do that reconstruction.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index-00alex.htm
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/01alexhazlett/Scantling%20List%20of%20a%20600-ton%20Nao.pdf
If you like old boats and naval history, take a good look at this site and at the links. I have found it very entertaining and interesting.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/index-projects.htm
http://www.subarch.com/
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/randall/Randall%20Index%20002.htm
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/01George/index.htm